Three months after devastating extreme flooding on the NSW North Coast it appears that a co-ordinated effort to prepare state emergency services for the next extreme flood has not even begun

Lismore City and environs, 28 February 2022
IMAGE: Life Flight Australia

The NSW Legislative Council Select Committee Inquiry on the Response to Major Flooding across New South Wales in 2022 held a public hearing at Room 814-815, in Parliament House, Sydney on 14 June 2021.

This public hearing took evidence from expert witnesses in relation to events in Northern NSW during the period February-March 2022.

Hearing transcripts are not yet available.

However, here are mainstream and social media responses to evidence given by state emergency response agencies.

Government agencies face strong scrutiny into NSW flood response https://t.co/shUF2UXz5O

— no_filter_Yamba (@no_filter_Yamba) June 16, 2022

 

ABC News, 16 June 2022:

The chairman of a parliamentary flood inquiry has accused the NSW government and Service NSW of running a "cruel hoax" on financial support for flood victims.

Service NSW faced tough questions on why fewer than 20 per cent of applications for a 16-week rental support program had been paid out.

The inquiry heard 11,667 applications for the grant have been received.

About 1,900 have been approved but 7,467 have been deemed ineligible.

The inquiry heard just $18 million had been paid out from a $248 million grant program due to close in nine days.

Catherine Ellis, an executive director at Service NSW, told the inquiry applicants were typically given 28 days to provide documentation to prove they were eligible.

But inquiry chairman Walt Secord questioned what allowances Service NSW was making to help people who had lost paperwork and electronics to floodwaters.

"Isn't simply being in the community that had the worst flood in NSW enough?" he said to Ms Ellis.

"I put it to you that flood support and support from this government is a cruel hoax and that you have no intention of providing support."

Ms Ellis said that Service NSW assessed applications on the policy and guidelines that were set…..

Earlier in the hearing, the SES and other marine-based agencies were questioned about the rescue efforts during the height of the floods.

SES Commissioner Carlene York was asked why civilians were directed not to conduct flood rescues in their own boats.

"[There is] rubble, refuse, very swift-flowing water, contaminated water," she said.

"Going out is very dangerous so I have an obligation to try and keep the community safe."

The so-called "tinnie army" ignored directions from SES not to enter the water and has been credited with hundreds of rescues across the Northern Rivers region.

NSW Maritime was also asked why it did not participate in more flood rescues.

Executive director Mark Hutchings said his agency was not responsible or equipped for swift-water rescues.

"Operating in flood waters is the most dangerous, perilous thing that you can do," he said.

"As a government agency you would not recommend, nor would you deploy, untrained staff in inappropriate vessels into that environment.

"But Aussies will do what Aussies will do."

Mr Hutchings told the inquiry he could be charged and come before the Coroners Court if he sent his staff into dangerous conditions and something went wrong.

Mr Fitzsimmons spent most of the day in front of the inquiry as it examined the immediate emergency response and recovery and rebuilding plans.

The agency was formed in response to the Black Summer bushfires but has faced criticism throughout the inquiry for its performance.

Mr Fitzsimmons bristled at criticisms put to him by the inquiry that his staff treated the emergency as a typical nine-to-five job.

"We're not a 24-hour organisation, we don't have thousands of personnel, [but] we've been doing extraordinary hours and running after-hours arrangements," he said.

"I've had some staff sleeping in their vehicles overnight close to evacuation centres and other areas where they're providing support."

Today is the last day of the inquiry's scheduled hearings.

A report with recommendations is due to be handed down by August 9.

AAP News, 15 June 2022:

Labor MP Penny Sharpe said North Coast victims had been worn down by the bureaucracy.

"The level of frustration and distress as a result because they (residents) are being asked for paperwork they no longer have is extraordinary," she said.

"We've had people crying in front of us because they're being asked to provide the same documentation five times they don't have because their house or business has washed away.

"I just cannot overstate the level of trauma in the community ...They're in desperate circumstances in terms of housing."

Mr Secord described the slow drip of rental support provided to displaced residents as "a cruel hoax".

Ms Sharpe also levelled criticisms at the SES for not effectively communicating with flood-affected communities over which rescue agency would take the lead, describing the response as "confused"…..

ABC Radio, Australia Wide program,

A New South Wales parliamentary inquiry examining the devastating floods from earlier in the year, is hearing evidence from emergency services and non-government organisations on how the response to natural disasters can be improved. The inquiry has been told its madness to have a volunteer organisation as the lead response agency to a major disaster. Leighton Drury, from the Fire Brigade Employees' Union, told today's hearing the State Government must rethink the strategy that sees the SES take control of floods, storms and tsunami events.

https://abcmedia.akamaized.net/radio/local_perth/audio/202206/aip-2022-06-14.mp3 – starting at 1:06 mins & finishes at 9:15 mins.

Twitter, 15 June 2022

 

“We’re not a 24-hour organisation.”

NSW Resilience Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons defends the agency’s response to the NSW floods, after an inquiry learns residents felt that rescue & recovery had been treated as a “9-to-5 job”.
Office hours emergency only?
Give me strength!

— 💧Urban Wronski (@UrbanWronski) June 15, 2022

 

UPDATE: The New South Wales flood inquiry has heard a shocking admission that life-saving help was withheld due to safety regulations. Earlier this year, #60Mins spoke to several residents in the devastated town of Lismore, who said calls to evacuate came too late. pic.twitter.com/D94PQHxiyh

— 60 Minutes Australia (@60Mins) June 16, 2022

 

Sometimes I feel like I’m imagining or catastrophising how bad the response to the floods has been, but then basically every news article confirms exactly what I’ve been saying and I feel a little more sane. https://t.co/D7L3Tsv1w2

— Clare Kearney (@wordsfromrobin) June 15, 2022

 

“We’re not a 24-hour organisation.”

NSW Resilience Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons defends the agency’s response to the NSW floods, after an inquiry learns residents felt that rescue & recovery had been treated as a “9-to-5 job”.
Office hours emergency only?
Give me strength!

— 💧Urban Wronski (@UrbanWronski) June 15, 2022

 

The WORST of @Labor and #LNP hypocrisy on display at NSW Parliamentary Inquiry to LISMORE floods emergency response. The STATE has not planned adequately for catastrophic weather then tries to blame problems on fine, dedicated front line responders. Shameful, lazy and ungrateful. pic.twitter.com/XhXaJrvElt

— eliza_brien (@elizabrien2) June 15, 2022

BACKGROUND

Response to Major Flooding across New South Wales in 2022 public hearing transcripts can be found at:

https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/committees/listofcommittees/Pages/committee-details.aspx?pk=277#tab-hearingsandtranscripts

Video recordings of public hearings are at:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLb7SKvfgKNwYKVbOv4fBTX2UizaWVHK7y

Ballina Shire waterways still showing signs of flood pollution - immune compromised people advised to avoid swimming

Echo, 13 June 2022:

Flood debris in Ballina, Richmond River, 1 March 2022. 

Photo David Lowe.

People with compromised immune systems were still being advised to avoid swimming in Ballina Shire waterways more than three months after catastrophic flooding in late February.

Advice from the council in early June said ‘those with lower immune function should avoid swimming within our rivers, bays and lakes’.

The advice came after the council’s most recent monitoring showed water quality at official levels of good or fair in all sampled waterways.

Fair water quality represented bacteria levels that indicated an increased risk of illness to swimmers, particularly those with lower immune function including the elderly and young children, council advice said.

The council said it could be several weeks before harmful bacteria and debris was flushed from Ballina waterways.

The worst water quality was in rivers, enclosed bays and lakes, the council said, but ocean beaches could still present risks visible signs of pollution were present.

Member for Lismore and Tweed City Council remain strongly opposed to "NSW Government's ill-advised proposal to close four Murwillumbah public schools and replace them with a mega campus"

It seems that less than ten months out from a state election the NSW Perrottet Government is still not listening to local communities in the Northern Rivers region.....

NSW Labor Member for Lismore Janelle Saffin, media release, 9 June 2022:

Janelle Saffin MP has reaffirmed her 'rock solid' opposition to the NSW Government's ill-advised proposal to close four Murwillumbah public schools and replace them with a mega campus. Tweed Shire Council is also opposed.

STATE Member for Lismore Janelle Saffin remains ‘rock solid’ in her support to maintain Murwilumbah’s four public schools.

The NSW Government’s plans to close these schools and replace them with a mega school campus is nothing but a cost-cutting exercise, Ms Saffin says.

“They (the Government) have not demonstrated any educational benefit to students and to boot will sack 20 teachers and four support staff.”

Ms Saffin further reaffirmed NSW Labor’s commitment to keep Murwillumbah East Public School, Wollumbin High School, Murwillumbah Public School and Murwillumbah High School open for the community into the future.

Ms Saffin said Tweed Shire Council’s damning submission and formal objection to the Murwillumbah Education Campus development application, combined with the school communities’ concerns, should be enough for NSW Education Minister Sarah Mitchell to scrap the Government’s ill-advised plan and heavily invest in existing schools instead.

“My position has not changed; if anything, my opposition to this proposal — which is half-baked at best, silly at worst, does not contain a performing arts centre as touted from the original announcement all the way along, is vague on assessing flood impacts and is generally lacking in detail — has solidified,” Ms Saffin said.

“Some issues identified by Council include inadequate playing fields; indoor halls too small to be used as shared community spaces; a lack of shading for students; a 90-space shortfall in car parking spaces (which would put serious pressure on surrounding streets); and an incomplete bushfire management plan.

“It all adds up to a half-baked plan which sells the local community short, prompting Tweed Mayor Cr Chris Cherry to say the State Government should be a ‘model applicant, but is flouting all of our requirements and at this stage is being anything but’.”

Ms Saffin noted NSW Teachers Federation Deputy President Henry Rajendra’s call for the NSW Government to immediately halt its merger plan, and engage with local parents and teachers to permanently protect the staffing entitlement for existing schools.

In Education Quarterly Online, Mr Rajendra said: “The issues raised by Council are in addition to the staffing cuts that will result when the schools are amalgamated. Primary school provision will, at a minimum, lose a classroom teacher, up to two assistant principal positions, a principal position and a reduction in teacher-librarian staffing.

“The situation is far worse for high school staffing. It is predicted that at least 16 positions – 20 per cent of the teaching staffing entitlement – will be cut, including classroom, head teacher, teacher-librarian, careers adviser and principal positions,” Mr Rajendra said.

So what will the timetables be for introducing national anti-corruption commission legislation and a new religious discrimination bill?

Australia is only on Day 23 of the new Albanese Labor Government, but some timetables are emerging when it comes to promised reforms.

Attorney-General’s Department, Media Centre, ABC Radio National – Breakfast with Patricia Karvelas, Interview with Australian Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus QC MP, Subjects: National Anti-Corruption Commission; Bernard Collaery; Religious Discrimination Legislation, 8 June 2022, transcript excerpt:

PATRICIA KARVELAS: There's little detail on what your anti-corruption commission will look like. Will you be starting from scratch or will you use independent MP Helen Haines' template?

MARK DREYFUS: My department swung into action, Patricia, as soon as the election result was clear. We've now got a task force of senior officials headed by a Deputy Secretary completely devoted to ensuring that we will legislate a national anti-corruption commission this year. And the full resources of the department are now directed to drafting the very best bill that we can bring to the Australian Parliament.

PATRICIA KARVELAS: You say that because the Commonwealth is the last to legislate an anti-corruption commission you can pick and choose the best from the states and territories. Can you give me an idea on what you see as best practice?

MARK DREYFUS: There's a whole range of features that have been obviously discussed over the last three years, a lot of it in response to the inadequate model that the former government put forward. The commission is going to be independent, it's going to be powerful, it's going to have the powers of a Royal Commission. And some of the contentious matters that we've looked at are the scope of the commission. It's going to deal with serious and systemic corruption, it's going to be able to receive allegations from a whole range of sources, it's going to be able to, at its discretion, hold public hearings and all of those are important features and, of course, important differences from the former government's model. And it'll be able to look into the past. That's another deficiency of the former government's proposal. We think that it's completely inappropriate to suggest that an anti-corruption commission, once set up, would only be able to look at matters that arose after it was set up. That can't be right. None of the state and territory anti-corruption commissions function on that basis. They've all been able to look back into the past at their discretion when they think it's appropriate.

PATRICIA KARVELAS: Okay, so two questions on this; how far back into the past?

MARK DREYFUS: That's going to be a matter for the commission.

PATRICIA KARVELAS: What's your view?

MARK DREYFUS: No, I'm not going to express a view. It's not for us, as the Government, to direct this commission…..

MARK DREYFUS: ... and I'm not going to set limits on this commission. It's independent. That's the key to it. It's not there to accept instructions from the government of the day. It's there to be independent.

PATRICIA KARVELAS: You say most of the hearings would be held in private. What would justify a public hearing in your view? How will that be articulated in the legislation for when the threshold is met for a public hearing?

MARK DREYFUS: There will be circumstances in which it is clearly in the public interest for a public hearing to take place. The experience of the state and territory commissions - because almost all of them have got the power to hold public hearings - is that they are sparing in the holding of those public hearings. They can, potentially, be very useful. A number of the anti-corruption commissioners around Australia with whom I've spoken about this have pointed out to me that it's a way of building confidence in the activities of the commission, if people can see it in operation. It's a way of showing how the commission is going about its work. And very often the holding of public hearings, some commissioners have told me, is something that prompts others to come forward. It brings out evidence if people hear of the investigation because the public hearing is being reported on. But overwhelmingly the work of these commissions is conducted by private hearings. They're sparing in their use of the public hearings…..

PATRICIA KARVELAS: When will the full design of the commission be announced?

MARK DREYFUS: We're going to bring a bill to the Parliament. And I'm going to be consulting before we do that, I'm certainly going to be consulting with the crossbench. As you said, in your introduction, the election of many independent members of the Parliament who campaigned on integrity issues tells us about the level of public support for this anti-corruption commission. It's a nation building reform. We're treating it extremely seriously. It's, as I've said, a paramount objective for the Government. I'm looking forward to consulting right across the Parliament on the details of this.

PATRICIA KARVELAS: So, if you have it legislated by the end of the year Attorney-General, does that mean it could be operational by next year?

MARK DREYFUS: We are going to legislate to create this anti-corruption commission, put the legislation in place, by the end of this year. That is the most clear commitment that we've given during the course of the campaign when it might be operational. If the legislation is passed by the end of this year it'll be a matter, as always for the establishment of a Commonwealth agency, of finding premises, finding staff appointing the commissioners, and then then it can get up and running.

PATRICIA KARVELAS: And what sort of timeframe might that might that look like?

MARK DREYFUS: I'd be hoping around the middle of 2023…..

PATRICIA KARVELAS: Just finally, prior to the election Labor said it would seek to legislate a Religious Discrimination Act and scrap the ability of schools to expel gay and transgender students at the same time. But a timeline hasn't been given. Are you still committed to religious discrimination legislation? And when would you do it?

MARK DREYFUS: Very much so and it's something that we will do, as we've said, in the course of this Parliament. Unlike the commitment on the National Anti-Corruption Commission where we've put a timeline on it by saying we are going to legislate by the end of this year, we haven't put such a timeline on the religious discrimination legislation that we will be bringing before the Parliament. But be assured, Patricia, we are bringing religious discrimination legislation before the Parliament. I have a very sharp memory of being interviewed by you at about 7:30 in the morning after an all night sitting for Federal Parliament earlier this year, when I think we'd sat to about 5 am in the morning. And one of the things I said to you in that interview was that, if we were successful at the upcoming election, we would be returning to this subject and bringing legislation to the Parliament on religious discrimination. That's why we voted for the government's bill, even after our amendments, only one of the amendments we supported, was successful. Because at its core, there is an appropriate, at the core even of the government's bill, there was an appropriate structure of anti-discrimination law, bringing in a prohibition on discriminating against people on the grounds of their religious beliefs. So I think we've made our position clear. It is a matter again of drafting legislation, which we will be doing and we will be bringing legislation to the Parliament…...

Native forest logging contracts extended across north east New South Wales by Perrottet Coalition Government

ABC News, 9 June 2022:

The NSW Agriculture Minister has signalled the government has no plans to phase out logging of native hardwood in state forests.

Key points:

• All North Coast Wood Supply Agreements have been extended until 2028

• The Agriculture Minister says selective harvesting of native forests is a renewable industry and does not plan to phase out the practice

• Critics say the contracts are 'reckless' and unsustainable post-bushfires and further threaten the habitats of endangered animals

• The state government announced a five-year extension of North Coast Wood Supply Agreements last week.

Minister Dugald Saunders said all agreements due to end next year had been renewed in order to provide "certainty" for the industry to "invest in their businesses".

The agreements cover the area spanning from the Mid North Coast to the Queensland border, and include state forests in Dorrigo, Wauchope, Kempsey, Grafton, Coffs Harbour, Taree, Wingham, Gloucester, Glenn Innes and Casino.

Mr Saunders confirmed the main terms were unchanged, meaning Forestry Corporation would continue to supply existing quantities and species to timber companies in exchange for payment…..

North East Forest Alliance, media release, 9 April 2022:

The NSW Government’s Koala Strategy released today will do little to turn around their extinction trajectory as it is not stopping logging and clearing of Koala habitat which, along with climate heating, are the main drivers of their demise.

“The Strategy proposes nothing to redress the logging of Koala habitat on public lands where at best 5-10 small potential Koala feed trees per hectare need to be protected in core Koala habitat, with the only other requirement being to wait for a Koala to leave before cutting down its tree” NEFA spokesperson Dailan Pugh said.

“We know that Koalas preferentially choose larger individuals of a limited variety of tree species for feeding, and losses of these trees will reduce populations. So protecting and restoring feed and roost trees is a prerequisite for allowing populations to grow on public lands.

“The most important and extensive Koala habitat we know of in NSW is in the proposed Great Koala National Park, encompassing 175,000 hectares of State Forests south of Grafton and west of Coffs Harbour.

“Similarly on the Richmond River lowlands the most important and extensive area known is the proposed Sandy Creek Koala Park, encompassing 7,000 ha of State Forests south of Casino.

“These are public lands that we know are important Koala habitat that need to be protected from further degradation if we want to recover Koala populations. There are many other areas of important Koala habitat on State forests in need of identification and protection from logging.

“The centrepiece of the NSW Koala Strategy is to spend $71 million on private lands, buying properties and implementing conservation agreements over up to 22,000 hectares.

“This will not compensate for the Liberal’s promises to the Nationals, as peace terms in the 2020 Koala Wars, to remove the requirement to obtain permission before clearing core Koala habitat, to end the prohibition on logging core Koala habitat, to open up all environmental zones for logging, and to stop core Koala habitat being added to environmental zones.

“Throwing money at piecemeal protection of private land, while allowing some of the best Koala habitat to be cleared and logged will not save Koalas

“Similarly their strategy to spend $31.5 million to restore and plant new Koala habitat could help, but only if they first stopped clearing and logging existing Koala habitat.

“Rather than the proposed piecemeal approach, what we need for private lands is for the Government to fund Councils to prepare Comprehensive Koala Plans of Management that identify where the core Koala habitat and important linkages are, and then to direct funding to best protecting those lands.

“The NSW Koala Strategy is set to fail because it does not fulfill the most fundamental requirement of stopping existing Koala habitat from being cleared and degraded, and lacks a strategic approach to identify the highest priority lands for protection and revegetation” Mr. Pugh said.

Koala strategy: https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/topics/animals-and-plants/threatened-species/programs-legislation-and-framework/nsw-koala-strategy

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBlLkEcG0Ew

NSW FORESTRY CORPORATION is salvage logging KOALA HABITAT in CLOUDS CREEK and ELLIS STATE FOREST AGAIN IN 2022. 

These wet sclerophyll public native forest compartments are within the proposed GREAT KOALA NATIONAL PARK and were extensively burnt during the 2019-20 Black Summer bushfires in November 2019. 

This short video clip is a time series of satellite images taken from 16 September 2018 through to 9 June 2022, showing the impacts of logging and bushfire on the local landscape. 

The forests here on the Dorrigo Plateau adjoin the NYMBOI-BINDERAY NATIONAL PARK and surround the Clouds Creek Pine Plantations in the southern end of Clarence Valley in northern NSW. 

They are managed by the Grafton office of NSW Forestry Corporation, Hardwood Division. 

The NSW Office of Environment and Heritage (NSW OEH) has mapped the forests here as preferred koala habitat and the Clouds Creek state forest is recognised as a priority Koala Hub in need of protection to prevent NSW Koalas becoming extinct by 2050. 

The Chaelundi Bioregion is a higher elevation, biodiversity hotspot which lies within the north western bounds of the Great Koala National Park proposal and provides forest connectivity across the eastern ranges critical to providing climate adaptivity for a multitude of threatened species living in these old growth, subtropical and warm temperate rainforest and wet sclerophyll forest areas above 600 metres asl. 

Sign the Great Koala National Park Petition: https://www.koalapark.org.au/petition 

Save Our Oldgrowth Trees 

PLEASE WRITE TO THE NSW GOVERNMENT TO DEMAND THEY STOP CLEARING AND LOGGING ANIMAL'S HOMES AND START THE LONG PROCESS OF RESTORING THEM. 

https://www.nefa.org.au/hollow_housing_crisis

IF YOU ARE A NSW RESIDENT - SIGN THE NSW e-Petition: End Public Native Forest Logging

https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/la/Pages/ePetition-details.aspx?q=quge-8rdRlyn4PTcuMj_PA

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Morrison & Co's post-election time bombs continue to explode

via @GrogsGamut

The full article can be found at: https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/politics/2022/06/11/negligent-the-extreme-labor-inherits-crises-across-portfolios#mtr

So what exactly happened at Kirribilli House on Election Night 21 May 2022?

 

We may never know the full story of the night it was confirmed that Scott John Morrison had come close to destroying the Liberal Party of Australia, but here is a sanitized version of how events unfolded…….

Weekend Australian, 11 June 2022, p.6, excerpt:

No Liberal strategists anticipated the Coalition’s seat total to plunge from 76 to 58.

“I wasn’t expecting us to win but wasn’t expecting our seat count to be so low,” a senior campaign source said.

The Liberal Party’s final polling in the 20 marginal seats it was tracking nightly was accurate – just 0.8 per cent out from the two-party-preferred result.

That final tracking poll was 72 hours from the close of polls.

Misplaced confidence

Undeterred, Morrison remained “relentlessly disciplined in his confidence” and upbeat in the final days of the campaign. At that point, there were high hopes at senior levels of the Liberal team that the 5 per cent of undecided voters could fall their way.

Morrison’s confidence was also attributed to how Labor’s primary vote had plummeted in the final weeks of the campaign, according to Crosby Textor research. Morrison’s view was understood to be that Labor couldn’t form majority government with a primary vote that had crashed so low.

At midday on election day, Finkelstein was downcast about their chance of success, confiding to his colleagues that Anthony Albanese would win. “He thinks the undecided started to fall the way of change on Thursday night and last night,” a source said at the time.

Federal Liberal campaign director Andrew Hirst was also pessimistic and was bracing for a loss, although not as brutal as the scenario that eventuated.

The Prime Minister, however, dismissed Finkelstein’s dire prediction. “Yaron is just tired, he’s exhausted after a long campaign,” Morrison said early in the afternoon to a close confidant.

Those close to Morrison say he was “quietly confident” that he could win minority government; that he could pull off a miracle once again.

On election night, Sky News host Paul Murray was reporting from the Liberal function at the Sofitel hotel in Sydney’s CBD.

He recalls that at the start of the night there was no sense of the scale of the impending defeat.

“There are times when you’re going to lose so everyone walks in going ‘how bad is this going to be’,” he said.

But that wasn’t the mood in the room on election night. Instead there was an initial sense of hope.

“The whole scenario is they weren’t supposed to win last time,” Murray said. “They all had muscle memory of winning against the trend.

“On election night, everyone saw Labor’s vote was down so they assumed this was happening again. Even in the second hour when it started going against the Libs, they were very much of the view that pre-poll hasn’t been counted yet.

“Then there was the final realisation that the train is not going to arrive.” At Kirribilli House, Morrison remained hopeful and upbeat as he bundled into his study with his closest friends, advisers and strategists including David Gazard, ­Andrew Carswell, Finkelstein, Adrian Harrington and John Kunkel. Morrison sat at his desk, ­examining the raw numbers as they were coming in from the Australian Electoral Commission.

Outside, Jenny Morrison, ever-positive and smiling, entertained about 20 of the couple’s friends from the Shire.

The first hour looked to be a repeat of 2019, with early polling showing Labor’s depressed primary vote.

Then there was a view in the room, about 7.30 to 8pm, that there wouldn’t be a definitive result that night.

Nail in the coffin

But then it changed.

“The pre-poll voting, which we would have thought favoured us, it just didn’t,” said one source from the room.

“When those results started being dropped, it cemented the trend. And then it changed really quickly.” Morrison left the room to take a long call from Frydenberg, who a source said was “in a pretty bad way”.

During the half-hour that he was out of the room, the size of the “teal” problem crystallised.

Morrison walked back in and said: “How is it looking?” “It’s not good,” an adviser said.

“I know it’s not good,” Morrison replied.

“It’s got worse,” a friend replied.

Then the Mackellar numbers started flowing in. “Jason (Falinski) is in trouble,” Morrison said.

A source in the room said that “when Jason’s results became clear, that’s when hope was abandoned”.

Finkelstein was the one who called it, according to those present. “We will be conceding tonight,” he said….

Morrison may have resigned as leader of the federal parliamentary Liberal Party, but this is not necessarily a signal that he will not fight to keep a degree of influence within the party in the hope of rebuilding his power base.

Currently he appears to be putting forward ideas on how to rebuild the Coalition and rebrand the Liberal Party:

In the wake of the election, Morrison has expressed an idea to some of his confidants about a possible strategy to deal with the independents in future elections: establish the Liberal National Party brand Australia-wide as the main conservative political movement.

Instead of the Nationals being the Coalition partner, he has suggested setting up a new progressive Liberal movement as the Coalition partner. It could run a different brand in the inner-city seats.

He has also begun accepting invitations to events where his former leadership status is recognised and where he can begin post-election networking.